In known cotton candy machines, a rotating, heated, floss head is oriented above a candy floss receiving bowl from which the candy can be applied to a paper cone, placed in a bag or otherwise collected. Sugar in granular form is dispensed into the rotating heated floss head where it is flung outwardly to a perforated, heated ring or screen, heating the sugar to a melted condition. The molten sugar flows through slots or apertures in the heated, rotating screen and is “spun” outwardly as elongated filaments, where it cools and is collected in the surrounding bowl as cotton candy floss, which can be collected and consumed.
The transition of the melted sugar filaments back to a cooled cotton candy filament state within the bowl is problematical. If the melted sugar engages the bowl before it cools sufficiently, it will stick to the bowl; with the result that cleanup is difficult.
If the sugar filaments are blown about too much, they can be blown over, out or above the bowl, into the area surrounding the bowl and resulting in messy waste.
In an effort to control the sugar filaments, flexible leather “floaters” have been secured to the rotating floss head. These prior leather floaters are disposed or twisted at an angle which is sufficient to suck air into the bowl, drawing air into the bowl primarily from underneath the central area of the mounted bowl near the floss head. This air flow cools the hot filaments before they contact the bowl surfaces, and prevents undesirable air flow or inertia from causing the filaments to flow overboard outside the confines of the bowl.
Such floaters have traditionally been made of flexible leather, pliable enough that they can be mounted to the floss head cap and twisted to a desired angle to create the air flow desired. These leather floaters, used for years, nevertheless present problems of their own. They are porous and are not generally easily treated or cleaned from a sanitizing perspective. Their performance is inconsistent depending on length, pliability, rigidity, angle and the like. Moreover, tools are required to disassemble the head components which hold the floaters so they and the head can be removed for cleaning. This takes effort and operators may not go to the trouble to remove the floaters and the head for proper cleaning.
In another aspect of the invention, various regulations or specifications of food preparation machines, such as cotton candy machines, which are the subject of this invention, are being increasingly and more frequently asserted by federal, state, county and municipal jurisdictions. For example, guidelines from the National Sanitation Foundation (NSF) are more frequently being asserted in such jurisdictions to cover cotton candy machines respecting issues of safety and sanitation. Among these are requirements to render the machines more easily cleanable, capable of being disassembled for cleaning without tools and more protective against electrical shock.
It is thus desired to improve the floater function and structure in a cotton candy machine.
It is also desired to improve access to improved floaters for orientation, as in pitch, and for cleaning.
It is further desired to provide structure to improve floater operation in existing cotton candy machines.
It is further desired to provide cotton candy machine floaters which can easily be removed and thoroughly cleaned, independently of the head.
It is a further objective of the invention to provide an improved floss head for cotton candy machines rendering toolless disassembly safe and improving the candy making function.
Another objective has been to provide a cotton candy machine capable of compliance with increasingly demanding guidelines and regulations.